Display package for footwear or other articles



Feb. 20, 1968' RGHARTMA N 3,369,660.

DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR FOOTWEAR 03 OTHER ARTICLES Filed June 1, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvenmn ROBERT e. mama" so 25 3o 24 WW,

Ahoanzvs Feb. 20, 1968 R. G. HARTMAN 3,369,660

DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR FOOTWEAR OR OTHER ARTICLES Filed June 1, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvsm'on noasa'r s. HARTMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,369,660 I DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR FOOTWEAR OR OTHER ARTICLES Robert G. Hartman, 4780 Old Orchard Trail, Orchard Lake, Mich. 48033 Filed June 1, 1967, Ser. No. 642,776 Claims. (Cl. 20665) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An elongated box housing with front and rear walls and closed top, bottom and sides with the front and rear walls cut away defining shoe shaped apertures with the cutaway portions remaining joined at their toe ends to the respective wall to define a pair of oppositely arranged diagonal shoe supports and a pair of transparent plastic shoe enclosing blisters projecting through said apertures, peripherally flanged to retainin-gly engage the interior surface of the respective wall.

The present invention relates to a footwear display package and more particularly to a box housing adapted to mount therein a pair of shoes arranged with the soles facing each other heel to toe.

The present invention recognizes as its primary object the need of a new type of package for holding footwear which will not only protect the same from transit damage, exhibit the footwear visibly for sales purposes and to classify the footwear for store stocking purposes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide the novel use of packaging materials which includes a blank cut and scored to form an elongated box with shoe shaped cutouts in its opposing front and rear walls and with a pair of transparent outwardly projecting shoe enclosing blisters secured thereto.

It is another object to provide a combination of packaging materials to define a box housing and a see-through enclosing blister so that the housing and blister assemblies with a pair of shoes packed therein cooperate to support each other as assembled and wherein the housing depth accommodates a substantial portion of the shoe therein, the remainder projecting outwardly into the blister.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claims in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the present footwear display package.

FIG. 2 is a similar view from the opposite side thereof.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the die cut and scored box defining blank.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the blisters.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section on an increased scale taken in the direction of arrows 55 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a transverse section taken in the direction of arrows 66 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the box housing illustrating the bottom wall assembly.

It will be understood that the above drawings illustrate merely a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set forth.

Referring to the drawing, the present footwear display package 11, FIGS. 1 and 2 includes an elongated box housing 12.

Said housing includes front wall 19, FIG. 3, rear wall 20, and including top, bottom and sides defined by the respective tabs 25, 28, and 22, hereafter described in detail in connection with the description of FIG. 3.

Respective front and rear walls 19 and as in the blank, FIG. 3 are cut through defining the oppositely ex- See tending shoe shaped apertures 13, from which projects outward-1y of the box 12 the pair of opposed oppositely arranged clear transparent plastic blisters 14.

The said display package is adapted to enclose therein the pair of shoes 15, whose opposing soles are arranged adjacent each other, heel to toe to provide an attractive display package for viewing the enclosed pair of shoes from opposite sides for protectively enclosing the shoes during shipment and during display as suspended from the handle assembly 16.

The present elongated box housing 12 is formed from a suitably formed die cut blank from a cardboard strip as for example 28 point cardboard, as particularly shown in FIG. 3.

A series of parallel score lines 18 are provided so that when portions of the blank are folded therealong there will be defined the corresponding front and rear walls 19' and 20, the side 21 integral therewith, and the outer side flaps 22 adapted for overlapping securing registry in the completed housing and with associated tabs 24 conventional in box assembly.

The respective transverse score lines 23 across the blank 17, FIG. 3 define the said side tabs 24, the pair of overlapping and interconnected top flaps 25, and the overlapped interconnected bottom flaps 28.

The respective top flaps 25 are further defined by the additional score lines 26, providing fold lines for the pair of upright engaging handle elements 27 adapted for cooperative regis-try and securing together by the fastening tab 41 defined by the slit 39 and score line 40 which interlockingly projects through the corresponding cutout 42, within the opposing handle element 27.

A series of fastening tabs 29 are defined within bottom flap 28 and side flap 22 in a conventional manner which with the box elements proper-1y folded and with the corresponding flaps overlapped provide an interlock of the said fastening tabs with corresponding transverse slits or slots 30 in the adjacent flaps, which are arranged in overlapping engaging registry.

Furthermore the bottom flaps 28 and the side flaps 22 may be secured together additionally or separately by the adhesive material 31 which may be a pressure sensi tive adhesive or other type so that the said bottom flaps and side flaps which define the bottom wall and one of the side walls of the housing may be fixedly secured together.

The respective shoe shaped cutout portions 13 define the shoe shaped shoe backing tabs 32 which are oppositely arranged but with portions of the respective front and rear walls uncut and remaining to define fold lines 33 so that the said backing tabs may extend inwardly in cooperating engaging relation so as to extend diagonally across and lengthwise of the housing as best shown in FIG. 5.

The above described blisters 14 shown in FIG. 4 also, are formed of a suitable clear or transparent plastic material such as polystyrene or polyethelene, or any other suitable plastic material so as to provide the hollow forwardly extending blister body 34 which takes generally the shape off the shoe to be packaged and which includes the peripheral substantially continuous flange 35 which projects substantially normally of the said blister.

The said flange is notched at the toe end thereof at 36 and is adapted to cooperatively register with the interior surface portion of the respective front and rear walls 19 and 20 loosely engaging the same and with the notched portion 36 interlocking with the backing tabs 32 respectively at the points where the said tabs are joined as at 33 to the corresponding front and rear walls. This functions as an aligning and centering device for the blisters and 3 for effectively interlocking the said blisters with the said housing, which in cooperation with the diagonal two backing tabs 32 are adapted to protectively enclose a pair of oppositely arranged shoes, arranged toe to heel.

With conventional shoe constructions it is recognized that the heel portion has greater height than the remainder of the shoe. For this purpose a substantial portion of the shoe adjacent its heel portion is nested and enclosed within the housing 12 itself and with the remainder of the shoe projecting outwardly into and being enclosed by the retaining transparent blisters 14.

Since the shoe soles are bearing against the backing tabs 32, the shoes are actually sitting on a diagonal line from the bottom of the pack to the top as viewed from the side, FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, so that the heel portions thereof extend practically the depth of the box like housing 12. Thus the balance of the shoe is enclosed by the blister which protrudes through the precut shoe shaped apertures 13.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention the shoe pack may be made up in four standard sizes for illustration, ranging from a pack to fit baby shoes, to childrens sizes and on through adult sizes.

In each instance the dimensions of the pack are standard except for the blisters, and the area taken up by the blisters.

The blisters are actually not joined to the cardboard front and rear walls but actually float in the pack.

In the illustrated form, as shown in FIG. 3, the blank 17 is preformed so as to define adjacent the top flaps the pair of handle elements 27. The top flaps 25 include respectively the securing tab 37, the transverse slit 38 by which the said top flaps are joined together in overlapping engaging relation and with the handle assembly 27 projecting centrally thereabove. The handle element fastening tab 41 hinged at 40 projects through the cutout 42 in the adjacent handle element 27 and is adapted to be folded upwardly for cooperative engaging registry therewith completing the assembly.

It is contemplated that the handle could be of an alter.- nate type such as shown in FIG. 6 wherein a pair of handle ends 43 project through corresponding apertures in top flaps 25 and are fixedly secured thereto in any suitable manner such as by staples or other fasteners 44.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention it is contemplated that the present display package could be adopted for the display of articles other than footwear and which would incorporate as equivalent structure article enclosing blisters by which a pair of symmetrical articles may be stored enclosed and displayed.

Having described my invention reference should now be had to the following claims.

4 I claim: 1. A footwear display package comprising an elongated box housing including front and rear walls and closed top, bottom, and sides;

said front and rear walls being cut through defining oppositely extending shoe shaped apertures with the cutaway portions remaining joined at their toe ends to the respective front and rear walls defining a pair of oppositely aranged engaging shoe supports extending diagonally across and lengthwise of said housing; and a pair of oppositely arranged transparent plastic shoe shaped blisters mounted on said front and rear walls projecting outwardly through said apertures;

and a peripheral flange on each blister extending normally thereof and retainingly engaging the corresponding inner surface of said front and rear walls, said shoe supports adapted to engage respectively the soles of a pair of shoes packed heel to toe, and partly nested within said housing and projecting into said blisters.

2. In the footwear display package of claim 1, a handle assembly extending from the housing top.

3. The footwear display package of claim 1, and a handle assembly extending from the housing top;

said box housing being formed from a die-cut blank scored to define the box parts and said handle assembly.

4. The footwear display package of claim 1, said blister flanges being notched at their toe ends for interlock with the shoe supports at their respective connections to said front and rear walls.

5. In the footwear display package of claim 1, said box housing being formed from a die-cut blank scored to define pairs of overlapped side, bottom and top flaps;

means interconnecting said flaps;

said top flaps being formed and folded to define a pair of upright engaging and interconnected box support elements. I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,568,625 9/1951 Harvey 20678 2,709,518 5/1955 Justin 206-46 45 2,895,834 7/1959 Brav 206-4519 3,003,624 10/1961 Ramsay 20646 3,033,356 5/1962 Meyerson 20645.31 3,292,810 12/ 1966 Schechter 206-65 50 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, IR., Primary Examiner. 

